


A Somewhat Expected Journey

by AithlynFreye



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-08
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2018-10-16 04:05:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10563342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AithlynFreye/pseuds/AithlynFreye
Summary: When Bilbo Baggins of the Shire started courting a dwarf by the name of Thorin Oakenshield two years ago, he never thought he’d end up going on an adventure with him to help reclaim his ancient home, Erebor.This is the story of Bilbo Baggins and the Company of Thorin Oakenshield with a bit of a twist. Bilbo and Thorin started courting two years before the start of the adventure after meeting at the Green Dragon one night. When Gandalf comes to Bilbo’s door early one morning, he was all for having a party with a bunch of dwarves, at least until he found out that one of those dwarves was his beloved. How will their adventure go with a little bit of jealousy from Thorin and dealing with the problems they will approach all the while trying to stay alive and together without the others knowing?





	1. An Expected Party

**Author's Note:**

> None of the characters belong to me; only the idea. I will be using a few direct quotes from the book and will stick mainly to how the book goes. All rights belong to J.R.R. Tolkien. Please enjoy!!

Having an old man show up on his doorstep this morning was certainly not what Bilbo expected when he woke up.

“Good morning.” Bilbo greeted while biting down on his pipe.

“What do you mean?” He said. “Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?”

“All of them at once, I supposed.” Bilbo replied blowing a puff of smoke into the shape of a beautiful ring.

“That was beautiful. I guess I will get to the point now. I am looking for someone to share an adventure with.” the man said

“Oh and what would that adventure be? And who exactly are you?” Bilbo asked.

“I am Gandalf the Grey. How on Middle Earth did you not remember me, Bilbo Baggins? Your mother would be ashamed!” The man-Gandalf- said shocked.

“Oh Yavanna, you’re the one who used to have the best fireworks when I was a young faunt. I am utterly embarrassed that I forgot you, please forgive me.” Bilbo replied jumping out of his seat shocked.

“Oh it is quite all right. Now, the adventure will be explained more tonight here at Bag End, food will be expected. I need to go and inform the Dwarves that you’re welcoming them into your home. I will see you tonight, Bilbo.” Gandalf chuckled and walked down the pathway with a wave of his hand and a reminder. “Don’t forget to have food!”

~~~

After hours and hours of cooking for Dwarves, his Intended had a huge appetite so he knew how much Dwarves eat, he was finally finished and just in time as there was a knock on his door just after he changed for the gathering.

“Dwalin, at your service.” A large bald dwarf, who looked like his Intended’s description of his best friend, bowed.

“Bilbo Baggins at yours. Please come in, there’s food ready on the table right through that doorway. You can leave your cloak and weapons in the chest beside the door.” Bilbo greeted and opened the door wider for him.

“Thank you for the food.” Dwalin grunted, dropped his things in the chest, and walked into the dining room. Just as Bilbo shut the door and started walking towards the dining room, there was a second knock on the door.

“Balin, at your service.” Balin, an old Dwarf with white hair and a long white beard, bowed with a kind smile.

“Bilbo Baggins at yours. Good evening.” Bilbo answered returning Balin’s kind smile.

“Yes, it is. Although I think it’s going to rain.” He replied looking up at the sky for a few seconds.

“I should hope it not, we don’t need this evening to be ruined with rain.” Bilbo said opening the door wider and allowing Balin to enter.

“Thank you, Laddie.”

“Is that my brother I hear?” Dwalin called from the dining room.

“Dwalin, good to see you.” Balin smiled warmly at his younger brother. They looked at each other for a second, grabbed each other’s shoulders, and butted heads roughly. Another knock at the door pulled him away from the scene just seconds later.

“Fíli-” The blond Dwarf began.

“-and Kíli-” The black haired Dwarf continued.

“-at your service!” They finished together with a bow completely in sync.

“Bilbo Baggins, at yours and your family’s. Come right in.” He replied and moved out of the way.

“Dís daughter of Thraín at your service.” A lady greeted with her own bow.

“Bilbo Baggins at yours. Come right in, there’s food on the table in the dining room.” Bilbo said and let her in.

This time, there wasn’t another knock on the door for a few minutes and when there was, he took his time walking to it. He didn’t expect to open the door and have a pile of Dwarves fall on each other though. The Dwarves that entered were Oín, Gloín, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Dori, Nori, Ori, and Gandalf standing behind the pile of Dwarves with a smile on his face.

“Gandalf, you’ve finally arrived. Are these all of the Dwarves coming?” Bilbo asked once he had all of the Dwarves seated around the table eating merrily.

“There are two more to come. They probably got lost; one of them is horrible with directions.” He answered and started to puff smoke from his pipe.

“All right, well I believe I made enough food to feed two more Dwarves. When do you suppose they’ll show up?” Bilbo said just as a knock sounded on the door.

“That should be them. Why do we go answer the door?” Gandalf smiled and urged him towards the door.

“Frerin Son of Thraín at your service. Sorry we’re late, this one got us lost twice on the way here.” A blond Dwarf, who had the exact same hair color as Fíli, bowed and stepped into the door.

“Bilbo Baggins this is-” Gandalf started.

“-Thorin Oakenshield.” Bilbo finished for him with shock. He hadn’t expected to see is Intended standing at the door.


	2. Old Meetings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, there's so many hits already. Thank you guys for reading and I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

“Âzyungel?” Thorin asked with his eyes widening.

“You two seem to know each other. When did you meet?” Gandalf asked with a knowing twinkle in his eyes.

“Two years ago.” Bilbo answered just staring at Thorin in shock.

“Did I just hear my brother say what I think he said?” Frerin asked turning around slowly.

“All of us need to have a conversation alone. Frerin, go get Dís, Fíli, and Kíli.” Gandalf said quickly and pushed Thorin and Bilbo in the direction of Bilbo’s study. Gandalf waited until the other four joined them and then began. “Explain yourselves, now.”

“We met two years ago at the Green Dragon and had a fun time together. We kept doing that and eventually started courting.” Thorin said summing their whole relationship into two sentences.

“How did I not guess you’d be courting the King of Erebor. You’re Belladonna’s son.” Gandalf said finally.

“Wait, you’re the Hobbit that’s been the cause of Thorin coming to Bree constantly. Wow, I wouldn’t of guessed it.” Frerin said simply.

“That I am.” Bilbo replied calmly.

“We can’t take him! How are you okay with this, Thorin?” Dís screamed after thinking for a second.

“I didn’t know.” Thorin mumbled.

“You didn’t know?” Dís pushed.

“To be fair, I didn’t know that Thorin was going to be one of the Dwarves coming to my home tonight.” Bilbo said in Thorin’s defense.

“I like him already.” Frerin smiled.

“Wait, so you’re the reason why Uncle’s so happy and no longer as broody?” Fíli asked raising his brow.

“Do you mean he doesn’t brood as much?” Kíli corrected with a smirk.

“Boys, stop harassing your uncle.” Dís ordered.

“We should keep this between ourselves and not let the other Dwarves know unless it’s absolutely necessary.” Gandalf said ending the conversation.

“We should get to the other Dwarves before they do something stupid.” Thorin interrupted. 

“You’re right. Gandalf, show us the way to the dining room.” Dís agreed and followed Gandalf out of the room. Bilbo grabbed Thorin’s arm and pulled him back into the room.

“Ghivashel, I’ve missed you.” Thorin mumbled as he was pulled into a tight hug from the short Hobbit.

“I’ve missed you too, Thorin. I’m guessing this is why you haven’t sent any letters?” Bilbo asked with his voice muffled by Thorin’s armor.

“Yes, I am sorry.” He replied.

“Well, I definitely would’ve liked to know you were going on a quest to kill a dragon. It wouldn’t do for you to die without me at least know-” Bilbo was cut off by a soft kiss from familiar lips. He quickly deepened the kiss and his hands found his way into Thorin’s hair easily. It felt like it had been hours by the time they broke apart.

“I would’ve found some way to tell you, but it doesn’t matter. We should probably go out there, they’re waiting for us.” Thorin said pulling away and leading Bilbo out of the study.

“We need to make a dramatic entrance, nadad. Go ahead, Bilbo. We’ll find our way to the dining room.” Frerin said with a smile and pulling Thorin to the side.

Bilbo could’ve sworn he heard a small yelp, but he wasn’t sure. He walked to the dining room and slipped in unnoticed by the Dwarves. 

“Ah, Frerin, Thorin, you finally made it. Come have a seat and we’ll get started.” Gandalf announced pulling everyone’s attention towards the doorway.

“I’d like to know why we’re all gathered in a halfling’s home.” Glóin said looking at Gandalf.

“Master Baggins is going to be your burglar.” Gandalf smiled with a certain twinkle in his eyes.


	3. Secrets from the Company

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took me longer to write than I originally anticipated. I hope you love it! Completely edited by my beta and best friend Dani!!! *The chapter title is all her idea too because I hadn't thought of a good one and couldn't think of one at all*

“He looks more like a grocer than a burglar. We’re not taking him, Gandalf.” Thorin said and was immediately hit by both Frerin and Dís on the side of his head.

“Excuse you?” Bilbo asked shocked.

“Oh, give him a chance Thorin. It’s not going to kill you.” Bofur said looking across the table at Bilbo.

“You don’t know that…” Thorin muttered under his breath.

“What was that?” Kíli asked loudly calling out his uncle.

“You’re hearing things. Well, how experienced are you in being a burglar, Master Baggins?” Thorin drawled turning his head towards Bilbo.

“No experience but I’m sure it’s not hard.” Bilbo answered holding his head up higher.

“Not hard?!” Nori asked, slamming his hands down on the table.

“Oh calm down, all it consists of is sneaking around and stealing things without people seeing it.” Bofur said taking a chug of his ale.

“THAT’S A HARD THING TO DO! It’s even harder when you’ve got this arsehole always breathing down your neck!” Nori yelled pointing at Dwalin.

“Stop complaining, you could be in jail.” Dwalin grunted in reply.

“Like you would even want me in jail, I give you something to do.” Nori snapped back. 

“Yeah something fun to do.” Ori muttered under his breath.

“Shut it pipsqueak.” Nori replied shooting his head towards his younger brother.

A weird mix of words was all Nori got in response from Bifur.

“Come again,” Frerin asked looking across the table at Bifur. Once again, Bifur repeated what he said. “How would you know, you aren’t a burglar?”

“What’d he say about being a burglar?” Nori replied with a look of murder.

“He said, and I quote, ‘It’s not hard to steal a few things from a mountain.’” Frerin answered not even cowering from Nori’s gaze.

“How does he even know? He’s a toymaker!” Nori yelled and started a fight with Frerin.

Before anyone could do anything to stop it, everyone was standing up and yelled at each other, except Thorin, Dís, and Bilbo. Gandalf was standing in the corner of the room laughing at the ruckus that all of the Dwarves were causing.

“ALL RIGHT!” Thorin yelled standing up and getting everyone’s attention.

“That worked surprisingly well. I guess your loud mouth can actually do something for the better.” Dís actually smiled as she said that.

“Whether he’s good at it or not, we need him. He’ll do just fine and he’s been on adventures before,” Gandalf said to the group of Dwarves and Hobbit. “Thorin, explain it to him.”

“Why do I have to do it?” Thorin groaned, but nevertheless he sat down and started talking. Bilbo rolled his eyes at Thorin’s antics.

“Let me start first, actually,” Gandalf said placing a map on the table.. “Far to the East, over ranges and rivers, beyond woodlands and wastelands, lies a single solitary peak.”

“The Lonely Mountain.” Bilbo read from the map.

“Aye. Oin has read the portents, and the portents say it’s time.” Glóin said slamming his hand on the table.

“Ravens have been seen flying back to the mountain as it was foretold: When the birds of yore return to Erebor, the reign of the beast will end.” Óin replied.

“Uh, what beast?” Bilbo asked.

“Well that would be a reference to Smaug the Terrible, chiefest and greatest calamity of our age. Airborne fire-breather, teeth like razors, claws like meathooks, extremely fond of precious metals-” Bofur started.

“Yes, I know what a dragon is.” Bilbo interrupted.

“I’m not afraid! I’m up for it. I’ll give him a taste of the Dwarfish iron right up his jacksie.” Ori stood up and yelled.

“Sit down!” Dori yelled.

“The task would be difficult enough with an army behind us. But we number just fifteen, and not fifteen of the best, nor brightest.” Balin said over all of the yelling.

“Hey who are you calling dim?” Kíli yelled.

“Watch it!” Dwalin threatened.

“No!” Nori guffawed.

“What did he say?” Óin asked.

“We may be few in number, but we’re fighters, all of us, to the last Dwarf!” Fíli yelled.

“And you forget, we have a wizard in our company. Gandalf will have killed hundreds of Dragons in his time.” Kíli replied standing up beside his brother.

“Oh, well, now, uh, I-I-I wouldn’t say that, I-” Gandalf started stuttering.

“How many, then?” Dori asked turning his attention to the shocked wizard.

“Uh, what?” Gandalf asked.

“Well, how many dragons have you killed? Go on, give us a number!” Dori answered putting everyone’s attention on Gandalf.

“Hm.” Gandalf started coughing on his pipe while the Dwarves around him started yelling at each other as they had been earlier.

“SHAZARA,” Thorin yelled standing up and getting their attention. “If we have read these signs, do you not think others will have read them too? Rumours have begun to spread. The dragon Smaug has not been seen for 60 years. Eyes look to the East mountain, assessing, wondering, weighing the risk. Perhaps the vast wealth of our people now lies unprotected. Do we sit back while others claim what is rightfully ours? Or do we seize this chance to take back Erebor? Du Bekar! Du Bekar!”

All of the Dwarves began to cheer and scream, repeating the two word Khuzdul phrase.

“You forget the front gate is sealed. There is no way into the mountain.” Balin said bringing everyone’s cheers to an abrupt end.

“That, my dear Balin, is not entirely true.” Gandalf smirked pulling something out of his robes.

“How came you by this?” Thorin asked his eyes widening at the key held in Gandalf’s fingers.

“It was given to me by your father, by Thrain, for safekeeping. It is yours now.” Gandalf answered handing the key to Thorin. Thorin quickly put it on a chain that was around his neck.

“If there is a key, there must be a door.” Fíli said looking down at the map.

“These runes speak of a hidden passage to the lower halls.” Gandalf said point at the runes with his pipe.

“There’s another way in!” Kíli yelled enthusiastically.

“Well, if we can find it, but Dwarf doors are invisible when closed. The answer lies hidden somewhere in this map and I do not have the skill to find it. But there are others in Middle-Earth who can. The task I have in mind will require a great deal of stealth, and no small amount of courage. But, if we are careful and clever, I believe it can be done.” Gandalf replied looking over at Bilbo.

“That’s why we need a burglar.” Ori determined.

“Hm, a good one, too. An expert, I’d imagine.” Bilbo replied thoughtfully.

“And are you?” Glóin asked raising his eyebrows.

“Am I what?” Bilbo questioned confused.

“An expert!” Óin repeated for his brother.

“M-me? No, no, no, no, no. I’m not a burglar; I’ve never stolen anything in my life.” Bilbo tripped over his words.

“I’m afraid I have to agree with Mr. Baggins. He’s hardly burglar material.” Balin sighed shaking his head at the others.

“Aye, the wild is no place for gentlefolk who can neither fight nor fend for themselves.” Dwalin agreed with his brother.

“I think he would do just fine with us.” Frerin said giving his opinion on the matter after staying silent for majority of the time.

“I disagree. He thinks being a burglar is easy.” Nori snapped back immediately.

“Enough! If I say Bilbo Baggins is a burglar, than a burglar he is,” Gandalf said raising to his full height and slinking back to his regular self. “Hobbits are remarkably light on their feet. In fact, they can pass unseen by most if they choose.

“And while the Dragon is accustomed to the smell of Dwarf, the scent of Hobbit is all but unknown to him, which gives us a distinct advantage. You asked me to find the sixteenth member of this company, and I have chosen Mr. Baggins. There’s a lot more to him than appearances suggest, and he’s got a great deal more to offer than any of you know, including himself. You must trust me on this.” Gandalf finished and gave a pointed look to Thorin and Bilbo at the appearances part.

“Very well, we will do it your way.” Dís said before Thorin could said that.

“No, no, no.” Bilbo muttered too low for anyone to hear.

“Give him the contract.” Thorin ordered Balin softly.

“Please.” Bilbo begged.

“Alright, we’re off!” Bofur said cheerfully.

“It’s just the usual summary of out-of-pocket expenses, time required, remuneration, funeral arrangements, so forth.” Balin said waving off what he said.

“Funeral arrangements?” Bilbo replied going pale at the thought.

“I cannot guarantee his safety. Please help me keep him alive, Gandalf. This was your idea.” Thorin whispered to Gandalf with a pleading in his voice.

“Understood and agreed.” Gandalf replied without a thought.

“Present company shall not be liable for injuries inflicted or sustained as a consequence thereof including but not limited to lacerations… evisceration… incineration?” Bilbo read to himself quietly, but not quiet enough as Bofur heard him.

“Oh, aye, he’ll melt the flesh off your bones in the blink of an eye.” Bofur said with a smile on his face.

“Huh.” Bilbo said feeling a bit nauseous all of the sudden.

“You all right, laddie?” Balin asked as Bilbo bent over.

“Uh, yeah… Feel a bit faint.” Bilbo said waving him off and focusing on breathing.

“Think furnace with wings.” Bofur said continuing his reply from earlier.

“Air, I-I-I need air.” Bilbo said out of breath.

“Flash of light, searing pain, then poof! You’re nothing more than a pile of ash.” Bofur laughed explaining the process of Smaug breathing fire at Bilbo.

“Hmmm. Nope.” Bilbo said and promptly passed out on the carpet.

“Look what you did! You broke him!” Frerin yelled at Bofur from across the room.

“Very helpful, Bofur.” Gandalf said sarcastically.

~~~

“Are you sure you’re all right?” Gandalf asked.

“I’m fine, Gandalf. Do you have a quill on you?” Bilbo replied rubbing his head.

“You’re going?” Gandalf said his head shooting down to Bilbo’s.

“Of course I’m going. Thorin’s coming.” Bilbo sighed signing his name on the contract neatly.

“Someone has to keep him safe. Not a man to follow directions, that one.” Bilbo continued. 

“Well I guess I'll have to keep the both of you safe. I don't want either of you to brood over losing the other.” Gandalf smiled and huffed on his pipe. 

“Is that what I think it is?” Bofur asked looking down at the contract where Bilbo signed. 

“Aye laddie. We have our burglar.” Balin confirmed looking through his eye glass. 

“Welcome to the Company of Thorin Oakenshield, Master Baggins.” Frerin said with a small knowing smirk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All Khuzdul translations are here: Shazara- Silence and Du Bekar- To Arms


	4. Journey's Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading! I can't believe we're already about to hit 1000 hits! I hope you enjoy it! Edited by my beta Dani, as well.

Late into the night, or you could say early morning, all of the Dwarves and wizard had finally fallen asleep, except for one Dwarf and the only Hobbit in the company.

“So, you’re to be our burglar.” Thorin said walking up behind Bilbo and wrapping his arms around his waist.

“Oh, come to poke fun at the grocer?” Bilbo asked sassily turning around and looking Thorin in the eyes with one eyebrow raised slightly.

“That was a real reaction?” Thorin replied with shock lacing his voice.

“What do you think?” Bilbo shrugged.

“Oh Bilbo, you know I love you so. Why would I mean that? It’s just for the company’s sake. They would be surprised that I’m courting the new Hobbit member of the company.” Thorin sighed, burying his face in Bilbo’s light curls.

“Why can’t they? Are you embarrassed of courting me, ukrad; a Hobbit?” Bilbo replied, wrapping his arms around Thorin’s torso even though he was a little hurt.

“Ghivashel, of course not. They just don’t trust you yet. I want them to trust you before we say anything.” Thorin explained, his voice a little muffled by Bilbo’s hair.

“Oh, well that actually makes sense,” Bilbo mumbled and poked his Dwarf in the stomach. “We need to sleep. Join me?”

“Again, they don’t need to know yet. Do you have another spare room?” Thorin reminded gently and pulled away.

“I don’t think that will be necessary, Thorin.” a woman’s voice said behind them.

“Ma, I thought you were asleep.” Bilbo answered, his head shooting up and looking over at his mother.

“And I thought you weren’t going to have company, but come to find, there are fifteen Dwarves and a wizard in my home. Hello again, Thorin, it’s nice to see you again. We all can talk again tomorrow. Go to sleep, you two. I’ll wake you up before the others.” Belladonna commanded.

“Nice to see you again as well, Belladonna. Have a nice evening.” Thorin said as he made his way back to where the rest of the Dwarves slept.

“So, why exactly are there Dwarves here?” Belladonna said once Thorin left the room.

“Weeeeeeeeeeell, we may be going on an adventure across Middle Earth to kill a dragon and to take back the mountain.” Bilbo replied rocking himself back and forth on his feet.

“I am so proud of you.” She shrieked and pulled him into a tight hug.

“Oh?” Bilbo questioned.

“I thought you were just going to get married-” Belladonna started.

“Ma, you’re married.” Bilbo interrupted.

“-and I was so ready to just throw you out of the house with a bag and a map. I’m also so jealous of you! You get to travel all the way across Middle Earth!” Belladonna finished with a huge smile on her face.

“You could come with us?” Bilbo offered raising his eyebrows.

“No, I have done all my adventuring. It is your turn now. Finally, it is time for you to learn about the world you live in,” Belladonna said firmly but with some excitement in her voice at the thought of adventuring again. “Go to sleep, you have a long day ahead of you. I’ll wake you up in the morning.”

“Good night, ma,” Bilbo replied and walked down the hallway to see if Balin was still awake, he was. “Balin, can I talk to you for a second?”

“Aye, what do you need, laddie?” Balin replied with a smile.

“I was wondering if you could possibly write up a second contract.” Bilbo said a little lower than usual so that Dori couldn’t hear him.

“I can. May I ask why?” Balin asked.

“It’s for my mother. She loves to adventure and I wouldn’t want to deny her of this. Especially when this is not any normal adventure. If it’s not okay, then I understand-” Bilbo started rambling.

“That is just fine, lad. I’ll write up another contract for her. Is it okay with Thorin?” Balin interrupted.

“I can handle Thorin.” Bilbo said holding his head high and walking out of Balin’s room. 

“Oh yes, I’m sure you can, Master Burglar.” Balin said with a smug grin and a knowing wink.

Bilbo paled and walked to Thorin’s room, pausing to knock on the door, and entering only when he heard a come in.

“Oh, Bilbo. Did you change your mind?” Thorin asked with a smirk as he motioned Bilbo in.

“Oh stop being an arse, Thorin. I came to ask if it’d be okay for Balin to write up a contract for my mother. She said she doesn’t want to come but I want her to have a choice.” Bilbo explained.

“You would want your mother to come on a quest to kill a dragon. I don’t want her to die and I’m sure you don’t want that either.” Thorin said turning around to look at Bilbo.

“Whether I want it or not, if you give her the choice we wouldn’t be able to stop her.” Bilbo replied looking a little sad at the mention of Belladonna’s possible death.

“Then why do you want her to have the choice?” Thorin asked looking a little confused.

“She deserves it and loves to go on adventures. I’m pretty sure she’d come even without a contract.” Bilbo said sitting down on Thorin’s bed.

“Fine, tell Balin he can write up a contract for her.” Thorin replied.

“Are you sure that you don’t want to sleep with me?” Bilbo asked, reaching for Thorin’s hand.

“I guess we can, just this once until they know.” Thorin gave in and followed Bilbo to his room.

†††

“You might wanna wake up before anyone else does, laddie.” Balin said quietly, nudging Thorin on the shoulder.

Thorin groaned.

“C’mon Thorin, you’ve gotta get up.” Balin repeated and just then Thorin’s eyes shot open.

“Are the others up?” Thorin asked and sat up carefully, so not to wake Bilbo up.

“Not yet, I figured you’d want to be woken up before them so they don’t know. They’ll be up soon, so you need to hurry up.” Balin said with a wink and left the room.

Thorin turned to Bilbo and leaned down to kiss him. Bilbo slowly opened his eyes and smiled tiredly after taking a second to remember why Thorin was there. 

“You’re up early. What’s going on?” Bilbo asked during a yawn.

“Well, if Balin didn’t know he does now.” Thorin said with a shrug.

“Oh yeah, I meant to mention last night that i think Balin knows. He made a comment.” Bilbo replied lazily.

“Oh okay. Well Balin knew something was up with me anyway. He’s been trying to get it out of me since the first time I went back to Ered Luin.” Thorin said, not really caring.

“We should probably get up; I’m guessing that’s what Balin said to you.” Bilbo replied sliding out of bed and Thorin’s hold.

Thorin and Bilbo got dressed in silence before they left the room. Bilbo went to the kitchen to make breakfast for everyone while Thorin went to help Balin wake the others.

“Good morning, Daffodil. How’d you sleep?” Belladonna greeted him with a kiss on the cheek.

“I slept fine, you?” Bilbo replied flipping some bacon.

 

“Very well. It seems your father got a room at the Prancing Pony. It’s just as well that he did. No fuss over dwarves in the house and I didn’t get kicked throughout the night.” Belladonna replied.

“He still does that?” Bilbo asked, not really paying attention to the conversation now.

“Yes he does. I’ll just leave you to cook breakfast. You have a small legion of Dwarves to feed. I’ll see you before you leave, dear.” Belladonna finished and went out to the back garden.

“Good morning, Master Boggins.” Kíli greeted saying his name wrong with a wide smile on his face.

“It’s Baggins and good morning Kíli. Some breakfast is on the table if you want to go ahead and start eating, the rest is almost ready.” Bilbo said, speaking to the rest of the Dwarves who had piled in behind Kíli, who then ran to the dining room.

†††

“Are you sure you don’t want to come along?” Bilbo asked standing beside the pony he was going to be riding to Erebor.

“I’m sure. I’m too old to travel across Middle Earth. Don’t you worry about me,” Belladonna smiled and gave him one last hug and kiss. “But do make it home for me. Do you have your contract with you?”

“I will and I do. See you in a few months, ma.” Bilbo said and led his pony out of Bag End to catch up with the Dwarves.

Belladonna walked back into her smial and closed the door behind her. She started walking to the kitchen for second breakfast but paused when she saw a bright yellow handkerchief, her son’s to be precise. She walked over and picked it up surprised to see a contract hidden underneath it. A contract with her soon-to-be son in-law’s and his advisor’s signatures at the bottom as well as one open line for a third signature. She remembered seeing Bilbo’s neat signature on the line of his contract, but this one didn’t have it. After realizing that, she knew what Bilbo had done. She knew that Bilbo wanted her to come along and she knew she wanted to go as well.

She quickly signed her name messily on the line and shoved Bilbo’s handkerchief in her backpack with her other things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Khuzdul Translations: Ukrad- greatest heart and Ghivashel- treasure of all treasures.


	5. Some Trolls?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry it took me so long to update, I got out of school in May and had a lot of dental work done throughout June and July, school kind of took over these past few weeks, but I'm back and I'm gonna try to get more updates out more frequently! I really hope you enjoy this chapter and have a great weekend and rest of the day! Thank you for reading! Also please keep in mind that there are direct quotes to the movie script with my on spin on them.

“Here you are Balin. You can look it over.” Belladonna said coming up beside Balin and handing him a contract.

“Everything looks in order. Welcome to the Company of Thorin Oakenshield,” Balin replied looking over the contract and handing it back to her. “Bilbo is over there beside Bombur if you want to ride beside him. Bombur is the one that is very rotund.”

Belladonna led her pony to Bombur and her son and threw his handkerchief. “You forgot your handkerchief, Daffodil!”

“Maaaaaaaaaaa!” Bilbo groaned and caught the handkerchief.

“Did I just hear what I think I heard?” Fíli said to Kíli in hushed tones with a smirk.

“Oh yes you did, O’ Brother of mine.” Kíli replied with a smirk and a laugh.

“Oh don’t you dare. Both of you need to stay away from that right now.” Dís commanded at the shared smirk from her two demon sons.

“It’s okay boys. I’ll help you with it.” Frerin smiled looking deviously.

“Frerin, if you even dare, I will stab you.” Thorin threatened with his eyes looking murderous.

“So you decided to come. I knew you would.” Bilbo smiled shoving his handkerchief in his vest pocket.

“You know me too well. Where are we headed first?” Belladonna replied with a curious expression on her face.

“Rivendell. That’s what Gandalf said, but I have no idea whether we’re actually going to talk to Elves or not, you know how Dwarves feel about Elves.” Bilbo said waving a hand at the mention the hatred of Elves.

“Great, it will be nice to see Elrond again. Oh and you must be Bombur. Pleasure to meet you, I’m Belladonna Baggins, Bilbo’s mother.” 

“Nice you meet you too, Mrs. Baggins.” Bombur said flatteringly.

“You don’t have to kiss up to her.” Bilbo replied rolling his eyes a little.

“Oh, but Hobbits are amazing cooks and I want to learn more about food from your mother, Bilbo.” Bombur whispered to Bilbo. 

“Oh Mister Bombur, you don't have to kiss up to me to talk about food. I talk about food willingly and lovingly. Bilbo, since you don’t like people kissing up, why don’t you go ride beside someone else.” Belladonna smirked and started a quick conversation with Bombur about breads.

“I’m not going anywhere.” Bilbo mumbled to himself.

†††

“We’ll camp here for the night. Fìli, Kìli, look after the ponies. Make sure you stay with them,” Thorin started, “Óin, Glóin get a fire going.”

“I think it would be wiser to move on. We could make it for the Hidden Valley.” Gandalf said looking around the ruined place we stopped.

“I have told you already, I will not go near that place.” Thorin shouted ending the argument.

“I did not give you that map and key for you to hold on to the past.” Gandalf finished and stormed away.

“Everything alright? Gandalf, where are you going?” Bilbo asked looking a little confused.

“To seek the company of the only one around here who’s got any sense.” Gandalf yelled.

“Who’s that?’ Bilbo replied with a tilt of his head.

“Myself, Mr. Baggins! I’ve had enough of dwarves for one day.” Gandalf finished walking off in no exact direction.

“Come on Bombur, we’re hungry.” Thorin said light-heartedly.

†††

“What’s the problem?” Bilbo asked when he got to where Fíli and Kíli were watching the ponies.

“We’re supposed to be looking out for the ponies.” Kíli started rubbing his chin while lost in thought.

“Only we’ve encountered a slight problem.” Fíli continued.

“We had sixteen.”

“Now there’s fourteen.” Fíli clarified.

“Daisy and Bungo are missing.” Kíli finished.

“Well, that’s not good. That is not good at all. Shouldn’t we tell Thorin?” Bilbo asked setting the bowls of soup down.

“Uhh, no. Let’s not worry about him. As our official burglar, we thought you might like to look into it.” Fíli said really fast before Bilbo could turn around and get Thorin.

“Well, uh… look, some--something big uprooted these trees.” Bilbo said trying to advert the subject.

“That was our thinking.” Kíli said stroking his chin some more.

“Something very big, and possibly quite dangerous.” Bilbo replied a little nervously.

“Hey! There’s a light. Over here! Stay down.” Fíli yelled getting the attention of both Bilbo and Kíli when he saw a big fire.

“What is it?” Bilbo whispered.

“Trolls.” Kíli said serious for once.

“He’s got Myrtle and Minty! I think they’re going to eat them, we have to do something.” Bilbo replied when he saw one troll with Myrtle and Minty in his arms.

“Yes, you should. Mountain trolls are slow and stupid, and you’re so small.” Kíli said acting like it was a brilliant idea.

“N-n-no-” Bilbo started.

“They’ll never see you.” Kíli interrupted.

“No, no, no…” Bilbo continued.

“It’s perfectly safe! We’ll be right behind you.” Kíli finished with a huge smile on his face.

“If you run into trouble, hoot twice like a barn owl, once like a brown owl.” Fíli said and pushed Bilbo towards the campfire.

“Twice like a barn owl, twice like a brown-once like a brown? Are you sure this is a good idea?” Bilbo asked turning around but realizing they weren’t even there anymore. Great, look what you’ve gotten yourself into now, Bilbo. You don’t even have your sword with you.

†††

“What did you just say?!” Thorin screamed at Fíli.

“Uh, I said-” Fíli started but was interrupted pretty much immediately.

“I heard you. Why in Mahal’s name would you do that?” Thorin continued lowering his voice a little.

“We lost four of the ponies and we always had a back-up plan. We wouldn’t endanger your intended without a plan.” Kíli said fast enough before his uncle could interrupt him.

“And what was your back-up plan?” Thorin growled.

“To get you?” Kíli squeaked. Thorin was way angrier than he thought he’d be. It’s not like Bilbo can’t handle himself.

“Let’s go. Get the others,” Thorin finished decided it was better to go help Bilbo than to stand around deciding on whether to kill his nephews or not. “Don’t think I’m not gonna tell your mother.”

That was the worst sentence Thorin could ever say. If you think that was bad, then wait till you see how amad will react.

†††  
“Come here, you little… Gotcha! Are there any more of you little fellas ‘iding where you shouldn’t?” Tom asked after grabbing Bilbo.

“Nope.” Bilbo said shaking his head.

“He’s lying.” William said looking at Bilbo for a second.

“No I’m not!” Bilbo yelled grabbing their attention.

“Hold his toes over the fire. Make him squeal.” William said and Tom started moving him towards the fire when Bilbo sees Frerin ran out from the bushes and cut William’s leg.

“Drop him!” Frerin yelled at Tom.

“You what?” Tom asked confused.

“I said, drop him.” Frerin repeated with an angry look on his face.

That’s when everything went crazy. The other thirteen Dwarves came out from behind the bushes led by Thorin and started fighting the Trolls. Bilbo had enough time to walk over and cut loose the ponies but the Trolls got ahold of him again and held him by the arms and legs.

“Bilbo!” Kíli yelled when he saw Bilbo’s situation.

“No!” Thorin screamed when he looked towards where Kíli yelled.

“Lay down your arms, or we’ll rip his off.” Tom threatened. All of the Dwarves decided to throw their various weapons down on the ground and Thorin was the last one to throw his sword on the ground. All the dwarves and hobbit were then put into sacks and tied up. A certain few were tied to a spit to be roasted for eating. Those few included Dwalin, Bofur, Dori, Ori, and Nori.

“Don’t bother cooking them. Let’s just sit on them and squash them into jelly.” William said whining just a bit.

“They should be sautéed and grilled with a sprinkle of sage.” Bert replied trying to convince them to make them taste good.

“Is this really necessary?’ Dori asked angrily.

“Ooh, that does sound nice.” William debated ignoring Dori completely.

“Untie us, you monsters!” Óin yelled.

“Take on someone your own size!” Glóin yelled in unison with Óin.

“Never mind the seasoning; we ain’t got all night! Dawn ain’t far away, so let’s get a move on. I don’t fancy being turned to stone.” Tom said which gave Bilbo an idea.

“Wait! You are making a terrible mistake.” Bilbo yelled trying to get their attention.

“You can’t reason with them, they’re half-wits!” Dori replied back angrily.

“Half-wits? What does that make us?” Bofur asked surprisingly serious.

“Uh, I meant with the, uh, with, uh, with the seasoning.” Bilbo said standing up although struggling with the sack around his arms and legs.

“Bilbo, sit down!” Belladonna whisper-yelled at Bilbo.

“What about the seasoning?” Bert asked looking over at Bilbo.

“Well have you smelt them? You’re going to need something stronger than sage before you plate this lot.” Bilbo said and the other Dwarves started calling Bilbo a traitor and kicking him.

“What do you know about cooking Dwarf?” Tom asked actually paying attention to him.

“Shut up, and let the, uh burrahobbit talk.” Bert yelled at Tom.

“Uh, th-the secret to cooking Dwarf is um-” Bilbo started.

“Yes? Come on.” Bert interrupted impatiently.

“It’s, uh-” Bilbo tried to continue but was interrupted again.

“Tell us the secret.” Bert said.

“Ye-yes, I’m telling you, the secret is… to skin them first!” Bilbo said finally being able to finish and think of something.

“If I get you, you little-” Glóin started threatening.

“I won’t forget that!” Dwalin yelled.

“What a load of rubbish! I’ve eaten plenty with their skins on. Scuff em, I say, boots and all.” Tom said ignoring Glóin and Dwalin’s yelling.

“‘E’s right! Nothing wrong with a bit of raw Dwarf! Nice and crunchy.” William agreed and grabbed Bombur dangling him over his mouth.

“Not-not that one, he-he’s infected!” Bilbo screamed trying to stop William from eating Bombur.

“You what?” Tom asked.

“Yeah, he’s got worms in his… tubes.” Bilbo said.

“In-in fact, they’re all in-infested with parasites. It’s a terrible business; I wouldn’t risk it, I really wouldn’t.” Bilbo continued.

“Parasites, did he say parasites?” Óin asked.

“We don’t have parasites! You have parasites!” Kíli yelled angrily.

“What are you talking about, laddie?” Glóin asked. Thorin realized what Bilbo was doing and kicked the others muttering something about going along with it.

“I’ve got parasites as big as my arm.” Óin yelled.

“Mine are the biggest parasites, I’ve got huge parasites!” Kíli said contradicting what he said moments before.

“We’re riddled.” Nori agreed.

“Yes, I’m riddled.” Ori repeated.

“Yes, we are. Badly!” Dori yelled.

“What would you have us do, then, let ‘em all go?” Tom asked.

“Well…” Bilbo said thoughtfully.

“You think I don’t know what you’re up to? This little ferret is taking us for fools!” Tom yelled finally catching up to Bilbo’s scheme.

“Ferret?’ Bilbo questioned.

“Fools?” Bert asked. Just as Bert asked his last question, the sun started rising and the three Trolls turned to stone. Gandalf came from behind the trees and helped everyone get out of the sacks.

“Where did you go, if I may ask?” Thorin asked Gandalf quietly.

“To look ahead.” Gandalf said, all anger seemingly erased from earlier.

“What brought you back?” Thorin replied.

“Looking behind. Nasty business. Still, they are in one piece.” Gandalf said turning his attention to the Troll statues.

“No thanks to Bilbo.” Thorin muttered.

“He had the nous to play for time. None of the rest of you thought of that.” Gandalf said putting Thorin back into a good state of mind about his intended.

“They must have come down from the Ettenmoors.” Gandalf said examining the statues further.

“Since when do mountain trolls venture this far south?” Thorin asked rubbing his chin in confusion.

“Oh, not for an age, not since a darker power ruled these lands,” Gandalf muttered in slight distaste at the thought, “They could not have moved in daylight.”

“There must be a cave nearby.” Thorin said looking around the campsite.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Khuzdul- amad=mom


	6. Night in Rivendell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All Elvish and Khuzdul translations are in the notes at the end.

The Company looked around and found a large cave nearby. There was tons of treasure inside of it.

 

“Oh, what’s that stench?” Frerin asked immediately pinching his nose closed.

 

“It’s a troll hoard. Be careful what you touch.” Gandalf said moving deeper into the cave.

 

“We can’t just leave all of this just lying around.” Nori said looking around at all of the gold just lying around.

 

“I agree. Get a shovel.” Bofur said grabbing a chest and digging a hole depositing gold in it and then covering it back up with dirt. Meanwhile, Thorin finds two swords and hands one to Gandalf.

 

“These swords were not made by any troll.” Thorin said looking the one in his hands over.

 

“Nor were they made by any smith among man,” Gandalf agreed, “These were forged in Gondolin by the High Elves of the First Age.”

 

“Must be a great blade.” Thorin said inching his out of the sheath a little bit.

 

“You could not wish for a finer blade.” Gandalf replied surprised that Thorin was so open to an Elvish blade.

 

“Let’s get out of this foul place. Come on, let’s go. Bofur! Glóin! Nori!” Thorin yelled walking out of the cave. 

 

On his way out, Gandalf stepped on something buried underneath leaves. He picked it up and realized it was another sword, he took it with him and handed it to Bilbo.

 

“Bilbo.” Gandalf said.

 

“Hmm?” Bilbo asked turning around to face Gandalf.

 

“Here. This is about your size.” Gandalf replied handing him the sword he found.

 

“I already have a sword. I can’t take it.” Bilbo said pushing it back to Gandalf and shaking his head.

 

“Just take it Bilbo.” Belladonna said becoming annoyed with her son’s antics.

 

“The blade is of Elvish make which means it will glow blue when orcs or goblins are nearby,” Gandalf explained and pushed the sword back to Bilbo, “Remember this: true courage is about knowing not when to take a life, but when to spare one.”

 

“Something’s coming!” Thorin yelled drawing his sword.

 

“Stay together! Hurry now. Arm yourselves.” Gandalf commanded and Bilbo unsheathed his sword.

 

Two wargs jump out from the trees and one is immediately killed by Thorin. The other gets shot by an arrow from Kili for it to get back up and Dwalin to finish it off.

 

“Warg-scouts! Which means an Orc pack is not far behind.” Thorin shouts gaining the attention from everyone.

 

“Who did you tell about your quest, beyond your kin?” Gandalf turned to Thorin with anger.

 

“No one.” Thorin answered.

 

“Who did you tell?” Gandalf demanded.

 

“No one. I swear. What in Durin’s name is going on?” Thorin replied with confusion lacing his voice.

 

“You are being hunted.” Gandalf stated.

 

“We have to get out of here.” Dís said.

 

“We can’t! We have no ponies; they bolted!” Ori countered.

 

“I’ll draw them off.” Radagast said getting on his sled.

 

“These are Gundabad Wargs; they will outrun you.” Gandalf replied.

 

“These are Rhosgobel Rabbits; I’d like to see them try,” Radagast smirked and rode off, “Come and get me!”

 

“Come on.” Gandalf whispered once he saw Radagast ride off.

 

The Company started running through a rocky terrain and snuck silently together away from the danger to get to the safety of Rivendell.

 

“Stay together.” Gandalf whisper-yelled.

 

“Move!” Thorin countered and Ori ran out from the cover of the rocks.

 

“Ori, no! Come back!” Thorin shouted a little too loud.

 

“Come on! Quick!” Gandalf rushed.

 

“Where are you leading us?” Thorin asked Gandalf as they ran.

 

“Move. run!” Gandalf yelled ignoring Thorin’s question.

 

“There they are!” Frerin yelled.

 

“This way! Quickly!” Gandalf yelled pulling them towards the entrance.

 

“There’s more coming!” Kíli shouted frantically.

 

“Kíli! Shoot them!” Thorin commanded. Kíli started shooting arrows at all of the Orcs and wargs killing some but not all.

 

“We’re surrounded!” Fíli yelled after the wargs and orcs surrounded them.

 

“Where is Gandalf?” Kíli asked as he shot another warg.

 

“He has abandoned us!” Dwalin yelled.

 

“Stop overreacting! He’ll be back.” Dís shouted at Dwalin.

 

“Hold your ground!” Thorin yelled at everyone.

 

“This way, you fools!” Gandalf screamed and gave up where he was. All of the Dwarves and two Hobbits ran to where Gandalf was and slipped into the hole. Not long after they slipped in, some Elves from Rivendell galloped up on horses and started shooting the wargs and Orcs.

 

“I cannot see where the pathway leads. Do we follow it or no?” Dwalin asked looking down the pathway in the little cave they were in.

 

“Follow it, of course!” Bofur replied.

 

“I think that would be wise.” Gandalf agreed.

 

They followed the small pathway and it narrowed but eventually opened up to the bright and beautiful city of Rivendell.

 

“The Valley of Imraldis. In the Common Tongue, it’s known by another name.” Gandalf started.

 

“Rivendell.” Bilbo finished awestruck by the beautiful city.

 

“Here lies the last Homely House east of the sea.” Gandalf smiled proud to have found the entrance.

 

“This was your plan all along, to seek refuge with our enemy.” Thorin growled with anger.

 

“You have no enemies here, Thorin Oakenshield. The only ill-will to be found in this valley is that which you bring yourself.” Gandalf said shooting him down.

 

“You think the Elves will give our quest their blessing? They will try to stop us.” Thorin replied not giving up.

 

“Of course they will. But we have questions that need to be answered. If we are to be successful, this will need to be handled with tact and respect and no small degree of charm. Which is why you will leave the talking to me.” Gandalf said smugly and started leading them down the path to enter Rivendell.

 

“Mithrandir.” Lindir greeted with a smile.

 

“Ah, Lindir!” Gandalf smiled.

 

“Stay sharp.” Thorin muttered to the Company.

 

“ _ Lastannem i athrannedh i Vruinen. _ ” Lindir said in Elvish.

 

“I must speak with Elrond.” Gandalf said in Common.

 

“My lord Elrond is not here.” Lindir replied with confusion on his face. At the moment he finished answering Gandalf, horns started going off behind them.

 

“ _Ilfridi bekar_! Hold ranks!” Thorin yelled and everyone circled up minus Gandalf. The horns got a little closer and Elves on horses including Elrond started circling around the Company and stopping in front of Gandalf and Lindir.

 

“Gandalf.” Elrond greeted with a warm smile.

 

“Lord Elrond.  _ Mellonnen! Mo evinedh? _ ” Gandalf replied in the Elvish tongue.

 

“ _ Farannem ‘Iamboth i udul o charad. Dagannem rim na lant Vedui _ .” Elrond said and dismounted his horse and gave Gandalf a friendly hug.

 

“Strange for Orcs to come so close to our borders. Something, or someone, has drawn them near.” Elrond replied in a joking manner.

 

“Ah, that may have been us.” Gandalf laughed with his eyes twinkling. Thorin stepped forward into the eyes of Elrond.

 

“Welcome Thorin, son of Thrain.” Elrond greeted with recognition obvious in his eyes.

 

“I do not believe we have met.” Thorin replied respectfully.

 

“You have your grandfather’s bearing. I knew Thror when he ruled under the Mountain.” Elrond explained distantly.

 

“Indeed; he made no mention of you.” Thorin said which earned him a slap on the arm from Dis.

 

“Be kind, _nadad_. It is lovely to meet you, lord Elrond.” Dis chastised.

 

“Ah, Dís, daughter of Thrain. And welcome Frerin, son of Thrain.” Elrond greeted.

 

“Thorin, why are you being so rude? I’ve told you before that Elrond is nothing like Thranduil.” Bilbo whisper-yelled once he pulled Thorin to the side on the way to the feast.

 

“I can’t help it. It’s instinct. I’m sorry, _Azyungel_.” Thorin replied quietly ashamed of his actions and grabbed Bilbo’s hand tenderly.

 

“Try not to be so disrespectful at the feast.” Bilbo said calmed down from Thorin’s hand holding his.

 

“I will try.” Thorin finished.

 

“ _Ukrad_ , we should probably stop now. The others are right there.” Bilbo said sadly pulling his hand away. At the last second before he walked to the front of the Company, Thorin pecked Bilbo on the cheek which left Bilbo blushing to the roots of his hair.

 

†††

 

“This is Orcrist, the Goblin Cleaver. A famous blade, forged by the High Elves of the West, my kin. May it serve you well,” Elrond said examining Thorin’s sword and handed it back to Thorin who accepts it with a nod, “And this is Glamdring, the Foe-hammer, sword of the King of Gondolin. These swords were made for the Goblin wars of the First Age.”

 

“I wouldn’t bother, laddie. Swords are named for the great deeds they do in war.” Balin said when he noticed Bilbo looking down at his sword.

 

“What are you saying, my sword hasn’t seen battle?” Bilbo asked looking up at Balin.

 

“I’m not actually sure it’s a sword; more of a letter opener, really.” Balin laughed.

 

“How did you come by these?” Elrond asked amazed at them.

 

“We found them in a Troll hoard on the Great East Road, shortly before we were ambushed by Orcs.” Gandalf explained.

 

“And what were you doing on the Great East Road?” Elrond asked but no one answered.

 

†††

 

“Show him the map, Thorin.” Gandalf urged later that night. Thorin handed the map to Elrond with a little bit of sadness in his eyes at having to trust an Elf. Elrond looked at it and was surprised by the name.

 

“Erebor. What is your interest in this map?” Elrond asked looking down at Thorin.

 

“It’s mainly academic-” Gandalf started but was soon interrupted by Dís.

 

“We’re going there.” Dís said bluntly.

 

“ _ Dís!”  _ Frerin whisper-yelled in chastisement.

 

“ _ Cirth Ithil.”  _ Elrond mumbled looking at the map in the moonlight.

 

“Moon runes. Of course. An easy thing to miss.” Gandalf said translating for the Dwarves and Hobbits.

 

“Well in this case, that is true; moon runes can only be read by the light of a moon of the same shape and season as the day on which they were written.” Elrond explained.

 

“Can you read them?” Thorin asked.

 

“These runes were written on a Midsummer’s Eve by the light of a crescent moon nearly two hundred years ago. It would seem you were meant to come to Rivendell. Fate is with you, Thorin Oakenshield; the same moon shines upon us tonight,” Elrond smiled. “Stand by the grey stone when the thrush knocks, and the setting sun with the last light of Durin’s Day will shine above the keyhole.”

 

“Durin’s Day?’ Bilbo asked not recognizing the day.

 

“It is the start of the Dwarves’ new year, when the last moon of autumn and the first sun of winter appear in the sky together.” Gandalf explained quickly for Bilbo and Belladonna.

 

“Is that soon?” Belladonna asked.

 

“This is ill news. Summer is passing. Durin’s Day will soon be upon us.” Thorin answered without even realizing Belladonna asked that question.

 

“We still have time.” Balin said with hope obvious in his voice.

 

“Time? For what?” Belladonna asked.

 

“To find the entrance. We have to be standing at exactly the right spot at exactly the right time. Then, and only then, can the door be opened.” Balin explained for Belladonna.

 

“Oh.” Belladonna replied.

 

“So this is your purpose, to enter the Mountain.” Elrond said putting everything together.

 

“What of it?” Frerin asked.

 

“There are some who would not deem it wise.” Elrond answered simply.

 

“Who do you mean?” Gandalf asked.

 

“You are not the only guardian to stand watch over Middle Earth.” Elrond replied.

 

†††

 

“When do we plan to leave, Thorin?” Dwalin asked gaining his attention after the map reading with elrond.

 

“As soon as we can. I’m waiting on a word from Gandalf.” Thorin said leading them back to where they were staying.

 

“I don’t like being around these Elves. They could kill us in our sleep.” Frerin commented quietly which earned him a slap on the head from Dís.

 

“We’ll be fine. Just be patient.” Dís chastised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All translations are in the order they appear:  
> Elvish- "We heard you had crossed into the valley."  
> Khuzdul- "Ready weapons!"  
> Elvish- "My friend! Where have you been?" "We've been hunting a pack of orcs that came up from the South. We slew a number near the Hidden Pass."  
> Khuzdul- "Brother." "Love of loves." "Greatest heart."


	7. Goblins?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm so sorry it's been so long since I've last updated. It just started out with a bit of writer's block but then school took over and now I've finally had time and inspiration to get down and write some more. I have done some direct quotes, but I'm trying not do many. This is a continuation from chapter 6 and I really hope you guys like it. I'm going to try to update once more before the end of the week. Enjoy!

“Patient? I don’t believe that the Elves deserve our patience.” Frerin scoffed seemingly shocked at the prospect of being patient. That comment earned another slap from Dis.

“You will be respectful and thankful to our hosts, Frerin. They have been nothing but kind to us so you should be the same.” Dís said giving Frerin a stare that could’ve scared away Orcs.

“I will be however I want to be towards the Elves, Dís. You are too young to remember how they treated us in our time of need.” Frerin replied ignoring Dís’ stare which earned him yet another slap on the head, but this one was harder as if to beat some common sense into him.

“Time for you all to go. I have a few meetings with Elrond and Saruman, so you can leave while I’m in those.” Gandalf said appearing out of nowhere and then pulling Thorin aside to tell him a few more things before letting them go.

The Company gathered their things together and started walking across Rivendell. Both Bilbo and Belladonna look back sad that they were having to leave so soon and not being able to have a full conversation with the Elves. They started towards the Misty Mountains as soon as they got outside of Rivendell.

“Careful now, we are in the wilderness again. Balin, lead the way.” Thorin warned falling a little further into the group so Balin could start leading everyone through the wilderness.

By the time they got into the Misty Mountains, it was pouring rain and you could hear the thunder miles and miles away. It was a very tedious climb that soon became even more tedious as the Dwarves, and Hobbits, realized that this wasn’t an ordinary storm.

“Watch out!” Dwalin yelled as a boulder suddenly hit the mountain behind them.

“This isn’t an ordinary storm. This is a thunder battle!” Balin yelled trying to be heard above the loud crashes of boulders hitting boulders.

“The legends are true, Stone Giants.” Bofur gasped looking around wildly and grabbing onto a rock behind him to hold him steady.

“Everybody take cover!” Thorin yelled.

“What’s going on?” Kíli asked.

Just as Kíli asked that question, the rocks started to give away beneath their feet, separating the group in half. The two Giants start fist fighting and both halves of the Company are holding onto the rocks as tightly as possible. A third Giant appears out of nowhere throwing a boulder at one of the Giant’s head causing the Giant to fall over injured but making it look as if one half of the Company was crushed in the process.

“Kíli!” Dís, Thorin, and Fíli all yelled at once running to the side of their mountain to look for the half.

“Bilbo!” Belladonna yelled realizing her young son was part of the half that was crushed.

“We’re all right! We’re alive!” Balin yelled just as Thorin’s side of the Company got to the edge enough to see the group was okay.

“Where’s Bilbo?” Thorin yelled looking around at the group of Dwarves.

“There!” Ori yelled pointing at the side of the mountain where Bilbo’s fingertips could be seen trying to keep hold of the mountain in order to not fall to his demise.

“Get him!” Frerin yelled pushing past the other Dwarves to try and help them get him up onto the safety of the mountain.

The Dwarves were trying and failing at bringing him up onto the mountain. Frerin grabbed hold of Bilbo’s left hand just as he lost grip and started to pull him up but he lost his balance and wasn’t able to get him up. The other Dwarves all joined in to try and bring him up, but it didn’t work. Thorin finally swept through and swung down to the cliff Bilbo was hanging from and boosted him up to help the other Dwarves pull him up. Thorin lost his handhold for a second as he was trying to get back up, but Dwalin caught ahold of his hand and pulled him up before he could fall.

“I thought we’d lost our burglar.” Thorin said once he stood up with an unreadable face.

“Bilbo!” Belladonna yelled and hugged him thanking Yavanna that he was okay.

The Dwarves and Hobbits start walking to find a cave to spend the night in. When they found one Thorin sent Dwalin to look around and make sure that the cave was uninhabited and safe for their stay. When it was deemed uninhabited, they all settled down on the ground pulling out blankets to sleep on.

“Let’s get a fire started.” Glóin said rubbing his hands together after dropping an armful of wood on the ground.

“No fires. Everyone get some sleep, we’re leaving at first light. Bofur you have first watch.” Thorin said and sat down on the floor getting comfortable. It seemed to take a while for everyone to actually fall asleep before Bilbo sat up and walked over to where Bofur was sitting and keeping watch. Little did Bilbo know, Thorin was awake and listening.

“Do you think I’m useless for the Company, Bofur?” Bilbo asked fiddling with his jacket.

“Of course not, Master Baggins. You may not be helping much right now, but you’ll definitely be helping a lot as soon as we get to Erebor.” Bofur said immediately without any hesitation and a bright smile.

“You think so?” 

“I know so. Do you think Thorin would have allowed you to come along if you were going to be useless?” Bofur asked but became a little confused when a fond smile appeared on Bilbo’s face at the mention of Thorin.

“I guess not. Thanks Bofur. I needed that.” Bilbo said looking down and then noticing that his sword was glowing blue.

“What’s that?” Bofur asked just as the sound of strange machinery started sounding underneath them.

“Wake up. Wake up!” Thorin yelled as the floor beneath them started to show cracks, but they were too slow because the floor beneath them collapsed to show that it was a trap door. 

The Dwarves and Hobbits fell into what looked like a wooden cage. They weren’t in it for too long because as soon as they all landed, they were swept out of it and stripped of their weapons. Except for Bilbo, who was left behind because of his small form. He unsheathed his sword completely and started to follow the Goblins carrying away his friends and mother. Out of nowhere, a Goblin jumped in front of him and started fighting him. Barely getting out with his life, both Bilbo and the Goblin fell over and tumbled down into a chasm.

Bilbo sat up and rubbed his head and looked around to see where he landed. Just as he turned his head to it, he saw some little creature pulling the Goblin he was fighting away into the darkness. Bilbo stood up and started following the creature to see if he could find a way out. While he was walking, he stepped on a small Once he caught up to the creature, he saw him on a small little island in the middle of the lake killing the Goblin he fought. Without warning, the creature looked over towards Bilbo so Bilbo flew behind a big rock. When he looked back over, the creature was gone. When he turned back to his rock, he was right in his face.


	8. The Game of Riddles: To the Death or Change to Escape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! I'm so glad y'all are continuing, or just starting, to read my story. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and it's just a day late as yesterday was quite busy. Thank you all for reading! Enjoy!

“Who are you?” Bilbo asked thrusting his sword towards the creature.

“What iss he, my preciouss Gollum?” the creature named Gollum said with a weird hiss after every word with an s.

“I’m Mr. Bilbo Baggins. I’ve lost my Company and my wizard and I’m trying to find my way out.” Bilbo replied not letting his sword down.

“What’s he got in his handses?” Gollum asked.

“A sword, a very sharp piece of metal, that I can hurt you with.” Bilbo said looking down towards his sword.

“P’raps you sits here and chats with us. It likes riddles, doesn’t it?” Gollum asked getting comfortable on the rock he was perched on.

“Very well. You ask first.” Bilbo said relaxing a bit.

“What has roots as nobody sees, is taller than than trees, up, up it goes, and yet never grows?” Gollum hissed.

“Easy! Mountain, I suppose.” Bilbo laughed figuring this was going to be easy.

“Does it guess easy? It must have a competition with us, my preciouss! If precious asks, and it doesn’t answer, we eats it, my preciousss. If it asks us, and we doesn’t answer, the we does what it wants, eh? We shows it the way out, yes!” Gollum hissed in reply to Bilbo’s answer.

“All right!” Bilbo agreed and said his first riddle, “Thirty white horses on a red hill, first they champ, then they stamp, then they stand still.”

“Chestnuts, chestnuts,” he hissed, “Teeth! Teeth! My preciousss; but we only has six.!” Then he started with his next riddle.

“Voiceless it cries, wingless it flutters, toothless bites, mouthless mutters.”

“Half a moment! Wind, wind of course!” Bilbo said after a moment of thought and then said his next riddle. “An eye in a blue face, saw an eye in a green face. ‘That eye is like to this eye’ said the first eye, ‘but in a low place not in a high place.” 

“Sss, sss, my preciouss. Sun on the daisies it means, it does,” Gollum hissed and continued with his next riddle, “It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, cannot be heard, cannot be smelt. It lies beneath stars and under hills, and empty holes it fills. It comes first and follows after, ends life, kills laughter.”

“Dark!” Bilbo said without hesitation as he had heard that one before, which was unfortunate for Gollum, “A box without hinges, key, or lid, yet golden treasure inside is hid.”

“Well, what is it?” Bilbo asked getting a little inpatient.

“Give us a chance; let it give us a chance, my preciouss-ss-ss.” Gollum hissed back in reply.

“Well, what about your reply?” Bilbo asked after giving him a long chance.

“Eggses, eggses!” Gollum hissed and then asked, “Alive without breath, as cold as death; never thirsty, never drinking, all in mail never clinking.”

“Is it nice, my preciousss? Is it juicy? Is it scrumptiously crunchy?” Gollum hissed after a while of Bilbo thinking.

“Half a moment,” Bilbo said shivering, “I gave you a good long chance, just now.”

“It must make haste, haste!” Gollum said climbing out of the boat he was in. WHen one of his feet stepped into the water, a fish jumped out and fell onto Bilbo’s toes.

“Fish, fish! It is fish!” Bilbo cried, “No-legs lay on one-leg, two-legs sat near on three-legs, four-legs got some.”

“Fish on a little table, man at table sitting on a stool, the cat has the bones,” Gollum answered, “This thing all things devours: birds, beasts, trees, flowers; gnaws iron, bites steel; grinds hard stones to meal; slays kings, ruins town, and beats high mountain down.”

“Time! Time!” Bilbo yelled trying to get more time, but to his luck, it turned out to be the answer.

“It’s got to ask uss a question, my preciouss, yes, yess, yesss. Just one more question to guess, yes, yesss,” said Gollum and after a moment he repeated himself, “Ask us! Ask us!”

“What have i got in my pocket?” Bilbo asked quietly running the ring through his fingers.

“Not fair! Not fair!” Gollum hissed, “It isn’t fair, my precious, is it, to ask us what it’s got in its nasty little pocketses?”

“What have I got in my pocket?” Bilbo asked louder after realizing Gollum thought the question was a riddle.

“It must give us three guesseses, my preciouss, three guesseses.” 

“Very well, guess away.” Bilbo replied with a small smile concealed on his face.

“Handses!” 

“Wrong. Guess again!” Bilbo said thankful that he had just taken his hands out of his pockets right before Gollum’s first guess.

“Knife!” Gollum said after a while of thinking and getting even angrier at Bilbo.

“Wrong. Last guess!” Bilbo said, which threw Gollum into an even worse state, “Come on! I am waiting!”

“Time’s up!”

“String, or nothing!” Gollum shrieked working in two guesses at once, which wasn’t technically fair.

“Both wrong. What about your promise?’ Bilbo asked backing against the wall relieved on winning the game and held his sword out, “You must show me the way. I want to go.”

“Did we say so, precious? Show the nassty little Baggins the way out, yes yes. But what does it gots in its pocketses, eh? Not string, precious, but nothing. Oh no! Gollum!”

“Nevermind that. A promise is a promise.” Bilbo said ignoring Gollum’s need to know what’s in his pocket.

“We must wait. We can’t get up to the tunnels so hasty. We must go and get some things first, yes, things to help us.” Gollum said looking towards his little island.

“Well, hurry up!” Bilbo said happy that he was going to have some distance between him and Gollum for a moment.

After a little bit, Bilbo heard a loud screech. He heard Gollum cursing and wailing in the gloom of his island.

“Where iss it? Where iss it? Losst it is, my precious, lost, lost! Curse us and crush us, my precious is lost!” Gollum shrieked in pure anguish.

“What’s the matter? What have you lost?” Bilbo called towards Gollum.

“It mustn’t ask us. Not its business, no, gollum! It’s losst, gollum, gollum, gollum.”

“Well, you promised to show me the way out! You promised so now you have to do it.” Bilbo said getting angry that Gollum was focusing on something that he lost.

“Unless. What has it gots in its pocketses?” Gollum asked appearing suddenly beside Bilbo.

“That doesn’t matter. You lost and you need to show me the way out.” Bilbo replied jumping back from Gollum.

Gollum suddenly started towards him to attack him. Bilbo swung with his sword, missed, and then turned around to go the way he came. His toes caught onto a rock and he fell onto the ground and the ring slipped on his finger. Just as soon as he fell, Gollum pounced at him but missed him and looked around as if he was lost.

“Where did he go? Thief, Baggins!” Gollum hissed turning towards the direction Bilbo was trying to go.

Bilbo followed him through the tunnels until he got to a tunnel that lead out. Gollum sat down on the ground in front of the tunnel and started hissing and shrieking about Bilbo and how he was a thief and that he would catch him. Bilbo knew that was the tunnel he needed to go out of to get out from the tunnels, but Gollum was right in front of the gap. Bilbo tightened his fingers around his sword to kill Gollum, but was stopped when he realized that he had the unfair advantage against him. Bilbo was invisible and had a weapon and Gollum never said he was going to kill Bilbo. So instead, Bilbo quietly backed up and started running towards the opening, just at the last second jumped up and almost completely missed Gollum, but his foot ended up kicking him in the head. Bilbo heard Gollum’s shriek and the anger Gollum let loose. 

“Thief, thief, thief! Baggins! We hates it, we hates it, we hates it forever!” Gollum cried out once he stood up and spun around towards the direction Bilbo ran.

Bilbo ran towards the end of the tunnel and it was surprisingly small and cramped for a Goblin tunnel considering how big some of them were. Bilbo finally reached the end of the tunnel and he could see the blinding sunlight. There was a door cracked open at the end of the room he entered after the tunnel and Bilbo ran towards it. He squeezed himself through it, ripping off the buttons on his jacket and waistcoat in the process, and runs down the mountain.


	9. The Befamed Azog

“Where’s Bilbo? Where is our other Hobbit? Where is our other Hobbit?” Gandalf yelled after he counted everyone and realized they were missing one Hobbit.

“He’s lost?” Dwalin asked looking around and realizing himself that there was one Hobbit missing.

“I thought he was with Dori!” Glóin called from the back of the group looking over towards Dori.

“Don’t blame me!”

“Well, where did you last see him?” Thorin asked looking around wildly at all of the Company with worry on his face.

“I think I saw him slip away. You know, when the Goblins got us out of the cage.” Nori piped up with his hand raised for Thorin’s attention.

“My Hobbit is lost?! He may be dead! He’s very small! What if he got stuck?” Belladonna shrieked when she realized what was happening and that her little boy wasn’t with them. She thought she had saw him during the entire fiasco with the Great Goblin.

“What happened exactly? Tell me!” Gandalf said with his hand on Belladonna’s shoulders to keep her a little calmed down and to ultimately keep her from running right back into the mountain.

“That Hobbit is too great to stay gone forever. I have no doubt he will find us again.” Thorin said with such confidence that everyone, including Belladonna, believed him.

“I’m right here.” Bilbo said after he pulled off the ring and put it in his pocket. Luckily he was further away from everyone as he was blushing quite hard from what Thorin said about him.

“Bilbo Baggins! I’ve never been so happy to see anyone in my life.” Gandalf said with a warm smile on his face.

“Bilbo, we’d lost you!” Kíli said as Bilbo walked into the group.

“How did you get past the Goblins?” Fíli asked.

“What does it matter? He’s back!” Belladonna laughed and ran towards her son with her arms wide open for a hug.

“Run them down. Tear them to pieces!” Azog said from behind them.

“Out of the frying pan-” Thorin started.

“-And into the fire! Run! RUN!” Gandalf yelled at the group and they all started running as fast as they could towards the trees at the end of the mountain they were on.

“Up into the trees! All of you!” Gandalf yelled and pointed at the trees around them.

Bilbo managed to kill a Warg with his sword and as everyone else was climbing the trees, he was trying to pull his sword out of the head. As Gandalf started yelling his name to start climbing the tree, he finally got his sword pulled free of the Warg head and scampered up the tree quickly to keep from being eaten by the many more Wargs headed his way. Bilbo and the rest of the Company climbed up the tree as high as they could. Thorin gets a bit distracted by the Orcs and Wargs, but then sees someone he never thought he’d see again.

“Azog?” Thorin asked with shock lacing his voice.

“Nuzdigid? Nuzdi gast? Ganzilig-i unarog obod nauzdanish, Torin undag Train-ob.” Azog growled with a cruel smile his face causing Thorin to go pale at the knowledge of Thorin capturing his father.

“It cannot be.” Thorin muttered looking down for a second.

“Kod, Toragid biriz. Woriri-da!” Azog yelled at his fellow riders and Wargs, “Sho gad adol!”

The Wargs started jumping up and scratching at the trees the Company were in causing many to fall only being caught by another. Gandalf whispered a small spell to a moth and sent it on its way and then started setting pinecones on fire and throwing them at the ground causing the forest to catch on fire. Thorin, against other’s yells stood up and walked, with an oaken branch on his arm as a shield, through the fiery trees towards Azog. 

Thorin raised his sword to swing at Azog, but his Warg beat him by shoving Thorin to the ground by a push from the big paw. Thorin got back up and started walking towards Azog again, but Azog swung his mace and hit Thorin hard in the face causing him to be brutally flung to the ground. The Warg approached Thorin and picked him up in between his teeth and swung him around with his teeth clenched around Thorin causing him to yell in pain.

Dwalin tries to stand up and get to Thorin’s aid but the branch he’s holding on to snaps and he can’t get to Thorin in time. Thorin raises his sword and hits the Warg in the head with the pommel causing the Warg to throw Thorin several feet away knocking Thorin almost unconscious.

“Biriz torag khobdudol.” Azog growled to his riders.

One of the riders got off of their Warg and walked over to Thorin putting his sword against Thorin’s neck. When Bilbo saw that, he pulled out his sword and stepped closer to the rider. The rider raised his sword and right as he was about to slam it down on Thorin’s neck Bilbo threw himself at the Orc knocking him over. Bilbo managed to kill the Orc after a bit of fighting him. Bilbo walked and stood in front of Thorin’s unconscious body to protect him. Bilbo swung his sword wildly at the other Orcs and Wargs as if daring them to try and get to Thorin.

“Kill him.” Azog smiled and barked an order at his riders.

Just as the riders and Wargs started approaching Bilbo, Fíli, Kíli, and Dwalin managed to get off of the tree and started attacking the Wargs and riders. Azog on top of his white Warg started walking towards Bilbo prepared to kill him when the moth returned to Gandalf just as some of the Dwarves lost their grip from the tree. They fell onto Eagles that swept through and picked up each and every member of the Company. An Eagle carefully picked up both Thorin and his sword in its talons and flew off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations in order of appearance:
> 
> Do you smell it? The scent of fear? I remember your father reeked of it, Thorin son of Thrain.
> 
> That one is mine. Kill the others.
> 
> Drink their blood!
> 
> Bring me the Dwarf's head.
> 
> Kill him.


End file.
